Wheelbarrow.



PATBNTBD SEPT; 29, 1903.

0. A. BAKER. WHBELBARROW. APPLICATION FILED nn. 8, 1902.

2 SHSBTS-SHEET l no x onnn.

man's man: so. moruuraon wumacn'm. u. c

' PATBNTED SEPT. 29, 1903.

C. A. BAKER WHEELBARROW.

APPLICATION FILED MAB. s, 1902.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

N0 MODEL.

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which the following is a full, clear, and exact U ITE STATES Fatentecl September 29, I903.

PATENT OFFICE.

WHEELBARROW.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 740,214, dated September 29, 1903.

Application filed March 8 1902.

To all whom, it may concern:

Be itknown that 1, CHARLES A. BAKER, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city and county of Waukesha, State of Wisconsin, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Wheelbarrows, of

description.

This invention has for its object, first, to provide a simple, durable, and eifective construction of wheelbarrow that should be characterized by great strength and durability, and, second, to provide a simple, cheap, and effective form of antifriction bearing for wheelbarrows. These objects of invention I have accomplished by the novel features of construction hereinafter described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and particularly pointed out in the claims at the end of this specification.

Figure 1 is a view in side elevation of a wheelbarrow embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is an inverted plan view of the wheelbarrow. Fig. 3 is a view in cross-section on line 3 3 of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a view in cross-section on line 4. a of Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is an enlarged view, partly in plan and partly in section, showing the wheel, its hub, and associated parts. Fig. 6 is a detail view in side elevation, showing one of the journal bars or brackets with a journal and roller and rollerbearings in position, the retaining-nut being omitted and the journal being shown in section.

The body A of the wheelbarrow is prefer-' ably formed of sheet metal, and this body has its bottom shaped to rest upon the supporting-bars B, that diverge from the front of the wheelbarrow and at their front are formed with the handles b. The supportingbars B are formed from chann eLiron or steel, (these terms being used synonymously here-- in,) and the handles on grips b are fOrmed' by bending together the edges of the supportingbars, as clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings, the supporting-bars B having their rear portions bent upward, so as to bring the grips or handles 1) in proper position to be readily grasped by the workman. The employment of channel-iron for the supportingbars B is attended with many features of advantage over gas-piping or like supporting- Serial 1%. 91,218. on; model.)

bars that have been heretofore used. In the first place, these channel-bars have the advantage of great strength and lightness, and, in the second place, the channels of the supporting-bars serve to receive and hold against lateral movement the ends of the brace-bars and legs and channel-bars, as will hereinafter more fullya-ppear. The legs 0 at the rear of the wheelbarrow are each shown as V shaped, and preferably these legs are formed from a single bar of metal that is bolted centrally, as at c,to the metal wheel of the wheelbarrow, while the upper ends of the bar comprising the legs are bent inwardly and set within the channels B, as clearly shown in Fig. 4 of the drawings. The upper ends of the legs C are retained within the channels B by bolts 0, and preferably thirnbles c are placed upon these bolts in order to bring the nuts 0 in convenient position below the channels. By thus locating the bent upper ends of the legs 0 within the channels of the su pportingbars B a free firm joint is secured between the legs and the supporting-bars, the outer side walls of the supporting-bars bracing the upper portions of the legs. While in the preferred form of the invention both of the supporting-legs O are formed from a single metal bar, it is obvious that the employment of individual bars bolted to the body of the wheelbarrow and formed of the V shape shown would clearly fall within the scope of the invention.

To the lower portions of the outer members of the legs 0 are bolted, as at 0 the V-shaped brace-bars D, that extend longitudinally of the supporting-bars, as clearly seen in Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings. As shown, these brace-bars D are. flat metal bars and their upper ends (I are bent at quarter-turn and are set-within the channels of the supportingbars B, where they are retained by suitable bolts d. Here again it will be seen that the side walls of the supporting-bars effectively aid in retaining the brace-bars D against lateral movement. The bolt d whereby the forward ends of the brace-bar are connected to the supporting-bars may also extend through the body of the wheelbarrow, and thus aid in firmly securing it to the supporting-bars.

From the front converging ends of the suppropriate means for retaining the rollers II in the preferred form of the inventionconsists of a single bar bent to W shape. angular central portion and upper ends of the bar E are bolted, as at c, to the body of the wheelbarrow, while the lower portions of the brace are connected by the bolts 6 to the front ends of the supporting-bars B. This front brace E serves to give great strength, rigidity, and durability to the wheelbarrow.

Within the front open ends of the channeled supporting-bars B are set the journal bars or brackets F, that are connected to the supporting-bars by the bolt 6 and preferably also by supplemental bolts e (See Figs. 1 and 2.) Here again the advantage of forming the,

supporting-bars of channel-iron is apparent, since the side walls of the supporting-bars serve to effectively hold the journal bars or brackets F in position and against lateral movement incident to the strains to which the wheelbarrow may be subjected. The front end of each of the journal bars or brackets F is flattened and formed with an eye f, that extends at an angle to the body of the bar F, so that when the bars F are within the channels of the supporting-bars the opposing faces of the eyes f will be in parallel vertical planes. Through the eyes f of the journal-bars F eX- tend the journals 9 of the wheel-hub G, and around each of these journals and within the eyesfare placed a series of antifriction-rollers H. tion the hub G is a metal hub of considerably greater diameter than its journal g, and in any event those parts of the hub G adjacent the inner ends of the journals g should be of sufficient size or should be provided with apso that the retaining-nuts K that encircle the threaded portions of the journals when screwed to position will bear against the unthreaded shoulders of the journals at the inner ends of such threaded portions, as clearly shown in Fig. 5 of the drawings. When the retaining-nuts K have been thus set in position, the extreme outer ends of the threaded portions of the journals 9 will be upset, so as to securely retain the nuts K against accidental displacement. From the foregoing description it will be seen that the journals g and the nuts K revolve with the hub G of the wheel and are relieved from friction by rollers H, that surround the journals.

The wheel M is preferably a metal wheel, and the spokesm of this wheel are preferably retained within sockets n, formed in the walls of the hub-plates N, as clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 5 of the drawings, the hubplates N being preferably united by rivets n or in any other convenient manner. The hub-plates N are flanged, as shown, at their inner edges and encircle the hub G to se- The In the preferred form of the inven curely hold the wheel in place upon the hub. One advantage incident to my present invention is that the wheel and its hub may be connected, as shown, with the journal bars or brackets, and these parts may thereafter be readily attached by unskilled labor to the supporting-bars of a wheelbarrow. In shipping this class of devicesit is most convenient to ship the parts in knockdown position; but inasmuch as it is necessary frequently for the assemblingof the parts to be done by unskilled labor it will readily be seen that in this respect my present construction possesses features' of material advantage, since when the wheel, its hub, and connected parts are sent from the factory the bearings are-in readiness for use and need not be disturbed when attaching such parts to the supporting-bars of the wheelbarrow.

It will readily be understood that theprecise details of construction above set forth may be varied without departing from the spirit of the'invention and that features of the invention may be employed without its adoption as an entirety.

Having thus described my invention, 'what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a wheelbarrow, the combination with the supporting and projecting side bars, of a hub journaled between the projecting ends of said bars, a wheel fixed to said hub, reduced journals upon the ends of said hub, eyes fixed upon the projecting ends of said side bars, surrounding said journals and abutting against the ends of said hub, antifriction-rollers within said eyes and about said journals and abutments fixed to the outer ends of said journals and extending over the outer ends of said rollers and the outer faces of said eyes, said rollers being held in place between the ends of said hub and said abutments.

2. A metal wheelbarrow, comprising the converging, channeled, supporting-bars B, dish-shaped trayA formed of a single piece of sheet metal mounted on supporting-bars B, V-shaped legs 0 formed of a single piece of strap metal centrally bolted to said tray and having its ends seated within and bolted to said channel bars, single piece, V- shaped brace bars D of strap metal having their lower, central portions bolted to said legs and having their ends seated within and bolted to said channel-bars, a wheel M having a hub G provided with reduced journals g on its ends,

journal bearing-bars F secured within and projecting forwardly from the ends of said channel-bars and provided with integral eyes fbent at an angle to the body of said journal bearing-bars F and arranged parallel tothe supporting and projecting side bars, of a wheel and hub jou rnaled between the projecting ends of said bars, reduced journals on the ends of said hub, eyes surrounding said jOUI' nals and abutting against the ends of said hub, projecting supports for said eyes secured to the projecting ends of said bars, antifric- Lion-rollers Within said eyes and about said journals and means fixed to the outer ends of said journals for holding said rollers in place.

l. In a wheelbarrow, the combination with the converging hollow side bars, of a hub having a wheel fixed thereto journaled between the projecting ends of said bars, reduced jou-rnals formed on the ends of said hubs, eyes ar ranged in parallel relation surrounding said journals and abutting against the ends of said hubs, said eyes being provided with shanks extending laterally therefrom at an angle to the axis thereof and secured within the front ends of said hollow side bars, antifrictionrollers within said eyes and about said journals, reduced threaded portions upon the ends of said journals and nuts upon said threaded portions and abutting against said eyes.

CHARLES A. BAKER.

V Witnesses:

EDITH SHERMAN, VERNON H. TICHENOR. 

